A Cloverdale athlete has won a silver medal at the Canada Winter Games.
Cloverdale’s Lowan Le Bris, 14, took silver in judo in the under-60 kilogram weight class after losing in the final in P.E.I.
Le Bris fought three matches at the games (before the team competition) on his way to the silver. In his first fight, he beat P.E.I.’s Raine Enright, then he beat New Brunswick’s Egan McLean in the semifinal, then he lost to B.C.’s Raphael Gannan—his friend, training partner, and fellow Peak Judo Club member—in the gold medal match. Gannan, 17, is also the senior national champion.
Jeremy Le Bris, Lowan’s dad and coach, said the tournament went well for both B.C. and Abbotsford’s Peak Judo Club, the gym where Le Bris train and Gannan train.
“B.C. got seven medals, so it was great for judo here,” Jeremy said.
Lowan Le Bris said the final match was over quickly.
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“It was pretty fast,” he said. “Went on the ground and he arm-barred me. But it feels good to get a medal.”
Lowan said the overall tournament was great and he’s grown from the experience.
“It was interesting to see all the other sports,” he said. “The athlete’s village was really fun to be in. There were a lot of activities going on there. It was a lot of fun.”
Lowan said his favourite part of the Games was spending time with his fellow judo buddies.
“We’d spend hours together in the activities room, just hanging out and having fun.”
After his silver, Lowan and the rest of Team B.C. won a bronze medal after placing third in the men’s team competition.
Lowan was in P.E.I. because judo, like boxing and some other traditional summer sports, is contested as part of the Canada Winter Games.
There is no rest for Le Bris, the 14-year-old goes to straight from P.E.I. to edmonton to compete in a nationals competition in West Edmonton Mall. His goal is to win U18 nationals in his weight class and qualify for the World Championships.
“I want to make the Olympics one day. I want to win the Olympics.”
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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